Jobless rate in Providence metro drops to 10.9%

THE JOBLESS RATE in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area dropped to 10.9 percent in July compared to 11.6 percent during the same month of 2011. For a larger version of this map, click <a href=HERE. / COURTESY THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS" title="THE JOBLESS RATE in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area dropped to 10.9 percent in July compared to 11.6 percent during the same month of 2011. For a larger version of this map, click HERE. / COURTESY THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS"/>
THE JOBLESS RATE in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area dropped to 10.9 percent in July compared to 11.6 percent during the same month of 2011. For a larger version of this map, click HERE. / COURTESY THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

WASHINGTON – Unemployment rates were lower year over year in July for 305 of the nation’s 372 metropolitan areas, including the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Wednesday.
The unemployment rate for the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area fell 0.7 percentage points from 11.6 percent in July 2011 to 10.9 percent in July 2012, not seasonally adjusted.
As a whole, Rhode Island saw its jobless rate drop 0.6 percentage points to 11.2 percent over the same period.
The R.I. Department of Labor and Training reported a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.8 percent for July, marking the state’s lowest jobless rate since May 2009.
Month over month, the Providence metro area’s jobless rate (not seasonally adjusted) rose 0.8 percentage points from 10.1 percent to in June to 10.9 percent in July.
Nationally, 67 metropolitan areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15 percent, while 94 areas registered rates of less than 7 percent, an improvement from the 68 metro areas that reported jobless rates of less than 7 percent during the same month in 2011.
In the New Bedford metropolitan area, the July unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) dropped 1 percentage point to 9.9 percent, compared with 10.9 percent in July 2011.
Nationwide, 276 metropolitan areas reported year-over-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment. Ninety-three metro areas – including the Providence-Fall River-Warwick area – reported declines, and 3 metro areas reported no change between July 2011 and July 2012.
The national unemployment rate in July was 8.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 9.3 percent in 2011.

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